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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

His most cherished dream was shattered. He had spent days
and nights working on it. He had surpassed all limits of hard work and
perseverance to turn his dream into reality. He had toiled relentlessly to make
his “design” emerge as a winner .A “design” that would have made him a millionaire
overnight….But probably “destiny” wasn’t satisfied with his effort. It expected
something more from him. And maybe that’s the reason why the evaluators chose
someone else’s design over his.

The result had torn him apart. His eyes didn’t shed tear,
but he cried from within. His mind shouted “I need an explanation” but he
didn’t speak a word. At once he rushed out of the office…

He got into the car with his head full of “whys, how’s,
what if’s”. Physically he was driving yet mentally he was grieving and analyzing
his failure. And furthermore to add to his mental turbulence he got stuck in a
traffic jam. It was like rubbing salt to a wound. No wonder his annoyance got
intensified.

His bad mood and frustration worsened when he had a
collision with a car. Though the collision wasn’t serious but it had created a dent
in the other car. As expected this guy had to bear the outburst of the car
owner. The anger in him wanted to knock down the car owner but he restrained his
wrath knowing it was his mistake. He paid some money as compensation and settled
the matter.

He came home, threw his bag and lay down on the sofa,
watching the ceiling….

”where did I go wrong”?

”was his design so much better
than mine”?

“Or has he bribed the evaluators”?

“Will I get another chance to be
a millionaire”.

His mind was churning zillions of such questions. It seemed as though he was throwing the
questions at the ceiling and expecting an answer, but alas the ceiling kept
mum.

“Hey when did you come”…? Asked a female voice. But this guy
was so engrossed in his thoughts that he hardly heard her. After a couple of
times when she finally spoke in a loud voice he acknowledged her question saying
“just
now”..He didn’t talk anything else.

Seeing her hubby worried she came closer to him and asked “Honey,
Whatz the matter”. He didn’t reply. She repeated the same question but
he kept mum. When she asked him again he yelled at her saying “Please
leave me alone and get out of my sight”. She thought of persuading him
to talk but decided that it would be better to leave him alone….

“Papa…………….” a cute little angel called him. His 5 year old
daughter came running to him. She held a piece of paper in front of him and
said “Papa,
Please make a boat for me”. But his dejection of failure had made him deaf,
even to his own angel’s voice. His design
not getting approved and his missed chance of becoming a millionaire had made
deep wounds in his mind.

He told his daughter to go to her mother and get the boat done.
But the kid was stubborn and she started pestering him. His anger spiked up and
he slapped his daughter.His daughter started sobbing and ran to her mom …

His frustration had grown leaps and bounds. Not able to find
solace he left home at once…

He came to a nearby park and sat on a stone bench. His mind
was at the apex of frustration. Along with the thoughts of failure now he was
also fighting the guilt of ill-treating his wife and daughter. Especially the
action of hitting his cute angel was hurting him a lot.He sat with his hands on
his head wondering why the day was so cruel to him…

But wait!!!!!!It wasn’t that bad after all………………..

His thought chain was interrupted by a balloon seller‘s voice.
The balloon seller was a boy of around 12 years .He carried colorful balloons with
him wooing all the small children. The boy was screaming in a loud voice to get
attention of the people. Probably his marketing strategy…. :-)

Hearing this loud voice his attention was diverted towards
the balloon seller. As he was watching him, he saw that the balloon seller was
approached by a small girl and her father. The girl was almost the same age as
that of his daughter. Probably the girl was fascinated by the balloon and had
persuaded her father to get one for her.

Since the balloon seller was standing very close to him, he
could easily see them and hear their conversation. The small girl demanded for
a pink balloon. The balloon seller gave it to her and told her father that it
costs Rs 6/-.Her father gave balloon seller a Rs 10/- note. The balloon seller
didn’t have the change and he conveyed the same .Her father asked him to keep
the change.

The small girl who had just become the owner of a ‘pink’
balloon was extremely elated. She was emanating a beautiful smile .Rather a contagious
smile. Seeing her daughter smile even the father was smiling. On the other hand
the balloon seller who had just earned extra 4 bugs was also smiling…

Having watched such a beautiful scene closely, even he couldn’t
help. He also smiled as if ,it was a reciprocation to their smiles. ….:-) J.

Further the boy(balloon seller) ran to a nearby bakery and
bought a bun. The boy instead of eating the bun packed it in a piece of paper
and started to head somewhere. Amused by the boy’s behavior he followed him just
to know what he was doing with the bun. What he saw next….was a very cute thing

The boy came to a place where in a small gal (probably 3-4
years old) was playing. He called her and she came running to the boy screaming
“dada….”.She
was the younger sister of the boy. Brother and sister sat together and ate the
bun with the larger piece of bun taken by the younger sister…. :-).Both Brother
and Sister were happy ,contented and smiling…..

Seeing their beautiful smiles and happiness his mood had undergone
a giant transformation. His eyes were moist shedding tears of happiness. He
felt calm and good

He purchased a balloon from the balloon seller and returned
home.

Back home, he was completely a transformed person. He called
his young angel and presented her the balloon. He asked her to bring the paper
and made paper boat for her. She was extremely happy and kissed her father. He
then hugged his wife from behind and said “sorry,”. Even she smiled…J

Later that night he retrospected his entire day--right from his failure to the
beauty that he had witnessed. He thought ,

”I can do an award winning design anytime, or I can become a millionaire
any time. But I can’t afford to lose these beautiful smiles around just because
of my tension and frustration. I can’t compromise on the allure these smiles
bring”. He had realized a beautiful truth that said

“All
that matters is to Smile and make others Smile”

He too smiled and spoke these lines in his mind looking at
the ceiling….and this time the ceiling replied back saying

Monday, July 29, 2013

“A portion of land mostly on the outskirts of city. Rich in Rags. Most
of the sewage water and city waste surrounds the area. Amids’t this you find a
considerable portion of the world living, in their so called houses. The houses
are in a way architectural wonders. Mostly made with rags tied to poles. Or
sometimes using waste aluminum /iron sheets. And the dwellers here emanate zero
sanitation and poor health…”

In a word it’s called slum.

Be it a Metro, town or a village they are present everywhere-The
slum dwellers. They live in highly unhygienic areas and unstable houses. There
is no protection for them, neither from rain nor from sun. And they and their
area breed diseases. Not just slums but many poor villages depict the same scenario.
It’s not that they chose this lifestyle. They just don’t have enough money to
move to a decent lifestyle.

Food, Clothing and Shelter are said to be the basic needs of
people. In the above case people are almost deprived of one of their basic
needs “shelter” and also “health”.

We always talk about developing the society. We talk about
increasing the standard of living, producing a trained and educated human resource.
When we say “society” we must consider people dwelling in these areas too. And
as far as People in these areas are concerned nothing is possible until and
unless they get their basic needs right. If they don’t have their basic needs
satisfied they will never ever think of development/education.

Issue 2

“The houses are drowned in water .Buildings have fallen down to the
level of land. Everything is either submerged or thrashed down completely.
There is devastation, destruction everywhere..People have no homes.”

This is a typical
scenario whenever we are struck by natural calamities.”Rehabilitation” is
usually done .But it’s a time consuming process. And pretty costly too.. Until
rehab centers are built people are deprived of their homes and they are left as
wanderers…

As it is evident, the answer to the above mentioned issues(and many others)
is an efficient housing solution .A solution that is not only cheap but
something that can be built very quick..Luckily one such solution exists

“The $300 dollar House”

It's a project headed by Christian Sarkar and his team. The sole
purpose of this project is to make sure that the poorest of the poor has a
stable shelter. A “Shelter” that can ensure protection from Rain, sun and wind.
A shelter that can ensure sanitation. A shelter that can be built quickly. A
shelter that can ensure good health, education, to the dwellers .Basically a shelter
that is a “Health delivery System “as
he calls it. And the most remarkable thing is that all this is achieved at a
cost of Rs 300 dollar.

They have already completed projects in Haiti and Have built
Rehab centers in Bihar( For Flood victims) and Pondicherry(For Tsunami Victims).Great
work sir….

Before concluding I just hope that the project gets good exposure
and implementation. I wish Christian Sarkar and team all the best for their
Endeavor and salute them for not just providing a house to the poor but for giving
them a dwelling place which they can proudly call as “HOME”.

Mom had expressed
her desire to buy a new house and she asked me to find out some good apartments
that met our budget. Obeying her Order I
set out to en quire about the apartments.

I went
to one of the big names in
real-estate industry & asked if they
can give me the details of a 2.bhk flat.I was redirected to a pretty sales
executive who explained me about the facilities, amenities and the benefits which I would
derive if I purchased the flat .After
listening to her explanation I then asked her the most important question. Cost???? She smilingly replied “Sir Flats
start from 1.5 core only;and go up till 4 crores”. I was dumb
founded. My mind quickly calculated the available budget, my salary, future
hike possibilities and the EMI I would end up paying. And the only one answer I
found was “the inability to purchase such a flat “; at least in the near
future.

I then approached
small builders, but the story wasn't interesting there too. I was annoyed completely.
At dusk I decided to end my search and started moving towards my car. I got
into the car and I headed towards my home. My mind was full of thoughts that
amazed me, and filled me with awe. And In the meanwhile I got stuck in traffic.
My annoyance was compounded.

But something caught
my eyes during this traffic jam that superseded the thoughts that were
currently going on in my mind. …

My eyes fell on a
slum area. Since I have driven through that road many a times I had seen that
slum. But I never paid any special attention to it. But that day I did.

My eyes made a note
of the houses in that slum area. They were in very poor condition. Mostly
made of rags and poles, that literally meant no protection from sun and rains,
and moreover each house sheltered (if you
say so) more than 10 to 12 people. No sanitation, No bathrooms and hence
poor health.”Pathetic” is how you could describe the condition of the houses.

It was quiet contrasting for me to have witnessed the two extremities
of “housing” the very same day. Food, Clothing and shelter are said to be the
basic needs of a person. But in this case it was sad to see people almost
deprived of one of their basic needs. We always talk about development, increase
in the standard of living, trained and educated manpower. But nothing is
possible until and unless people get their basic needs right. If they don’t
have basic needs satisfied they will never ever think of development/education.

With my mind pondering over these thoughts, I reached home.
I switched on my pc with an intent to check mails and social-networking sites. I
saw a mail from #Indi blogger
regarding the “Idea Caravn” Drive.
It mainly consisted of the TED Videos. I started watching the TED videos by Franklin Templeton India. There were
many inspiring & Motivating videos. But one video caught my attention because
it complemented the chain of thoughts I had that entire day.

The video was by Christian Sarkar explaining his Project “The 300 dollar house”. The sole
purpose of this project is to make sure that the poorest of the poor has a
stable shelter. A “Shelter” that can ensure protection from Rain, sun and wind.
A shelter that can ensure sanitation. A shelter that can ensure good health, education,
to the dwellers .Basically a shelter that is a “Health delivery System “as he calls it. And the most remarkable
thing is that all this is achieved at a cost of Rs 300 dollar.

Christian Sarkar also talked about the way in which he executed the project, the
massive help he got without even asking and he also showed the prototypes. He further explained about the
projects in Haiti and India.

After watching the video my mind inferred the following…

1) One advantage of this 300 dollar house is that it
indirectly influences development. To elucidate—imagine a person who has a stable
house, and every family member has good health. He has nothing to worry about
rain/winter or health of his family members. He will then obviously invest his
time in getting a better lifestyle. He will try to send his children to school.
He will try to lead a life a notch above compared to what he used to do
previously. And this indirectly influences the development of society.

2) Since the cost is very less, Government can easily set up
these houses and get it done quickly too as compared to the previous housing
schemes for poor people like the Indira Avas Yojana.

3) The 300 dollar house can also be responsible for speedy
rehabilitation in places affected by “Natural disasters” like floods, Tsunami,
Earthquake. The village constructed at Bihar (for flood victims) and at Pondicherry
(for Tsunami victims) using the 300 dollar house is a good illustration for this.

As I finish
watching the video, I wish that the project gets good exposure and implementation.
I wish Christian Sarkar and team all the best for their Endeavor and salute them
for not just providing a house to the poor but for giving them a dwelling place
which they can call as “HOME”.

Doodhsagar-Its one of those places which God Made when he was at his Architectural best.If you Consider Nature as "Feminine" then "Doodhsagar" is an illustration of nature's finest feminine grace and if you consider Nature as "Masculine" then "Doodhsagar" is one of the strongest of nature's masculine manifestations.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Advice's are free
and hence are in abundance. Parents, Friends, and Society in general dole out countless
advice's to you almost every day with a “holy” intention of making you a good
person and to teach you the “Art of Living” :P . Through their advice's they
share their doctrines of the “Do right”
philosophy which they believe will act
as guiding principles for you. But alas, nothing of that sort happens most of the times.

We generally learn our life lessons through our personal experiences.
Here are two such experiences of mine that taught me an important lesson.
Actually speaking, one taught the lesson, and the other strengthened the
teaching.

Experience #1

I had been
to my village for a vacation.One fine day myself and my cousin were sitting in the bus-stand talking some random stuff.I think time was around 6 p.m.(Basically in villages, bus-stands are major
destinations for passing time. Sometimes
they get converted to “pubs” ,“smoking zones” and even casinos).

There was an old woman sitting in front of us
selling vegetables. She seemed to be a skilled business woman attracting
customers by giving “vegetable” promotions, discounts and at times bad-words too. People
used to come to her, bargain in loud voices and once there was mutual agreement
the “vegetable” deal would be done. This routine went on daily.

Realizing
that it was dark she turned to us and asked what the time was. I told that it
was 7 .15.

”Oh ,its late and I think its time to go home.” She said in kannada. She put all the vegetables
in her basket and started to roll her towel which she uses as cushion for her head
over which the vegetable basket is placed. While doing this activity she asked when will the bus for “Soraba”
( a nearby village) come. My cousin replied that you will get a bus in 10 mins
and if you miss that you will have two more buses at an interval of 5 to 10
mins. We then ignored her and continued
with our talks.

While we were talking we observed a weird behavior
from the old women. Two buses that bore the board Soraba came to bus-stand.But she didn’t board any.On the
other hand every time the bus came she went to the conductor talked
something ,and came back.

I observed
this and asked her why was she doing like this. When she replied to my question
she not only gave the answer but also an important life lesson. She said that
the two buses that passed by, charge 15 rs to soraba,while there is another
local bus which charges 14 rs. If she goes
in that bus she will save 1 rupee and she can use the same for other purposes. Saying
this she left as the bus for which she was waiting arrived.

On the other hand here I was dumbstruck
after listening to her answer.I pondered
over her words.I thought “We are fortunate enough to have a decent
amount of money with us. A difference of
a rupee,or two or even 10 ,20 Rs, doesn’t count..But for some every
rupee counts. “

Experience #2

I had come to my
hometown for a weekend .And since I had booked my ticket on Sunday night with a
well known travels I was waiting for my bus at their pickup point. The bus was
supposed to come at around 11 p.m.But I couldn’t find any sign off its arrival,
even though the time was 11 45 p.m. So I looked around to initiate a
conversation with someone and check if they are boarding the same bus.

I saw a young guy
standing with his luggage. I thought he must be another software engineer who
has come for weekend, and is heading back to Bangalore to attend his office on Monday.
So I assumed he is the right person to talk to and I approached him .I asked
him if he is boarding the same bus as that of mine, to which he replied in negative.
I nodded my head and said its fine.

We then started
talking some random stuff in order to pass time until the bus arrived.We
exchanged our names and dwelling info and then he asked me about what I do in Bangalore.
I replied saying that I work in Xyz Company in so and so place. I also added
that I am pretty bored with routine work and not enjoying it so much.

I then asked him
about what he does in Bangalore.”I work in some abc company in so and so
place “ was the typical reply that I had expected. But he shocked me
saying that he is searching for job. He
then intensified the shock by saying that he is searching the job from past 2
years…I was takenaback.

All along the
conversation he, was asking about the corporate world. His eyes and words had
that eagerness while they also showed the frustration and helplessness of not
getting a job .It became evident when he said “I have been trying from the past two years but nothings working out.Please
tell me what to do to get a job…anything it might be” .I was moved by his
words and I offered him the advice what to do and how to prepare for job
interviews.

In the meanwhile my bus came and I left
wishing him “good luck”. During the journey I mulled over the conversation
which we had. “ We often time complain about our
jobs, saying something or the other lacks in it. Agreed that we are bored by
the mundane routine. But we are still better when compared to that job aspirant.
For him nothing else matters.All that matters is a “Job” for which he is trying
since 2 years “

Complaining
is what we do most of the times. We always complain about our jobs ,relationships,and
many other things.The moment we have something we complain that we don’t have some other thing. Its a
very good thing to keep exploring and experiencing new and different stuff . But sometimes It’s nice to stop complaining and be grateful
about what we already have because

Friday, July 12, 2013

It was yet another
weekend. Rather let’s call it the same mundane, deterministic, weekend.The craze
about Bangalore had vanished in 2 years and everything seemed to induce boredom.
Be it going to malls or Weekend parties or simply lazing around in your room. A
change was inevitable and an acute necessity.

While I was
pondering on this million dollar question about “What to do on weekend” my phone started blinking .It was Rajeev calling.
I picked it up and before even I said hello he spoke my mind

”Yaar bahut bore mar raha hai.” To fight boredom our initial
plan was to jam since Rajeev is a guitarist and I am a singer; but then we
decided against it. After a quick brain storming we decided to go out for a trip.
But we were not able to decide on the location.

I called up Abhi,
another close friend and our bassist .I briefed him the idea of trip and also
about the inability to come up with a suitable location. He quickly thought
over and proclaimed that “We are going to Doodhsagar...”
basing his selection over the fact that “Ravi” (another) close friend stayed in
Belgaum and he possessed the “Mahindra
Classic Jeep” (yes because travelling in Mahindra Classic Jeep is itself a
big pleasure).. By the way he is our “percussionist”

(Image taken from Google)

Myself and Rajeev left
Bangalore that night.”Abhi told he would be joining late since he had to attend
some “random date”. And as for Ravi he was waiting to receive us .

Belgaum

We both
reached Belgaum at 7.Ravi had already arrived and was waiting for us.

It’s always a
treat to be in Belgaum. There is kind of “apnapan” in everything be it in the air,
soil, houses, shops. Everything in Belgaum seems to be breathing a life of
ecstatic joy yet possesses unruffled calmness.

And as far as
Doodhsagar is concerned, it is one of those places which God made when he was
at his architectural best. If you consider Nature as feminine then “Doodhsagar”
is an illustration of nature’s finest feminine grace and if you consider Nature
as Masculine “Doodhsagar” is one of the strongest of nature’s masculine
manifestations.

(Image taken from Google)

There is a train from Belgaum every Sunday that drops
you to Doodhsagar in the morning. It’s the easiest of the routes. But yet there
is another route filled with excitement and adventure and in this case there is
no train. As you predicted right we chose the latter one. And moreover we had
Ravi’s legendary “Mahindra classic”.
How could we think of tripping without it.

We were
actually supposed to leave for Doodhsagar at 9 am. But since our Friend Abhi’s
date lasted longer than expected, (:P),he delayed his departure from Bangalore
that resulted in cumulative delay in the start of our trip.

Till our
“punctual” friend arrived we had to somehow pass time. And you see we were all
musicians me being a singer, Ravi a percussionist and Rajeev a guitarist. We
started jamming and singing all the popular songs.

After a few hours,Abhi called up and told
that he is directly coming to Ramnagar and asked us to pick him there.We
decided to leave for Ramnagar.Our
Mahindra Classic was loaded with all the stuff required for the Road
trip and further trekking .We also carried our music instruments with us…Just
in case. Little did we know that the very act of carrying musical instruments
would make our trip the most memorable experience of our life .

Doodhsagar..The adventure begins

We were waiting at ramnagar for abhi to join. It was 2 p.m.when he
finally arrived. He had to face verbal consequence for his delay. But it didn’t
last long as we had to begin our adventure…

We then drove from Ramnagar to
Castlerock. CastleRock is a small village which is famous for two reasons .One
because it is a busy railway junction and other due to the presence of
Doodhsagar falls. From Castle rock you have to further cover a terrain of about
15 kms. Only vehicles of the sort of Mahindra Classic would have made it through
this difficult terrain. To describe the road- it was a patch of land abundant
in sharp stones, scattered over a muddy surface which eventually had turned
into clay due to incessant rains. The road was guarded on both the sides by
thick forest.

After having covered 15kms, we
Gasped a sigh in response to the meager achievement of crossing our first hurdle.
But soon the next hurdle was in sight. We had to cross another terrain, but
this time the state of matter being “liquid”. Yes we then had to cross a river
of around 1 km .The very sight of this made us furious as well as pumped
excitement in all of us.The river wasn't
that deep though. We entered inside with full acceleration. The
very splash of water on the face when the wheels collided with river was like a
prelude to the adventures that were about to come.

After a slow,
yet steady and limping drive we crossed the river. There was secret celebration
in everyone’s heart .Especially in that of the driver. After riding for about 3
more kms on a comparatively easier terrain (land)we came across a tree which
for some reason had slept on the road. It literally blocked the way. And that
meant we had to part away from our dear “Mahindra Classic” momentarily and
continue the journey by walk…If put in a right way- Our trek began.

After walking
for a kilometer more we met an old man who is supposed to be the only guide in
this unknown area. Well what was amusing was his fees for the guidance. He just
demanded a bottle of wine for his guidance. There was yet another noticeable thing.
The old man had a dog …It seemed as though the dog was the guides guide. IT
knew the terrain much better than the old man …It was our Trek lead for that
day.

Next up we had to
cover a thick forest which literally had no road .and this time we had to walk
through the forest .It was pretty dark. There were all sorts of sounds an
indicative to the presence of wide range of animals. And then there were the
smaller creatures like the leeches, and the mosquitoes. The smaller the
creature is the more the trouble they cause. We slowly moved step by step
cautious and alert yet internalizing and perceiving the beauty and jeopardy.
Once we covered the land next up there was a water body challenging us.

There was no
way we could have walked through the water. The depths were unkown ,and the
slippery rocks would have made us dance. Luckily we found a kind of wooden bridge made by some
ingenious .With its assistance we crossed the 500m wide stretch . The dog on
other hand couldn’t climb the bridge as it couldn’t get a grip of it. He
heroically swam the waters and reached the other side.

All this adventure had withered the sap out of our body
.We were tired. We kept moving though slowly. After walking about 1 more km we
saw something that took us to an apex of
elation. The tantalizing sight of Doodhsagar was there in front of us.

We reached the
point where the falls originated from. If you look down ,u could see a valley
which has no ends,In day time you could also see(from that spot) the Doodhsagar
visitors who come via train and watch the falls from down. We had a sense of
accomplishment standing beside the falls.

It seemed like the
nature was conversing with us.”I can
make u furious with the terror yet I present to you so much of beauty. Unless
you surrender to me completely I won’t let you sense my beauty”. And we
having literally surrender to her, were soaked and mesmerized by her beauty.

Back from the falls –Surprise awaits

It was about 6 o clock when we finally had to
take a leave from this wonderful place. We were elated yet tired. The “night”
had slowly begun to establish its empire. We came to the place where we had
left our vehicle. We gave our guide his “fees” and began to headback.We were
pleased that we had great experience and were relieved that the adventure came
to an end. But wait the adventure was not over yet…Read along …

On the way back we
entered the river in our vehicle .I think we would have moved about 100 mts,a
disaster happened .Instead of taking the left .The driver moved the steering to
the right thus inviting a disaster. The wheels got stuck. The engine couldn’t
pull the wheels up. We were panic stricken .Unaware as what to do. It was
slowly getting dark too. Since the river was not that deep we jumped from our
vehicle and tried to use muscle power to take the wheels out. But the strength
was not enough. Moreover the slippery rocks were not supporting our
endeavour.After much effort we decided to quit and leave the vehicle there and
collect it the next day. We took our musical instruments; some left over
biscuits; a small torch and decided to move on…

But then something
amazing happened. Read along to know….what was it

Amazing stuff happens

Once we started moving, suddenly
out of the blue our guitarist strummed his guitar. Listening to this our bassist came up with a very crazy idea. He
was like let’s jam in this beautiful place for a while before we leave. I and
Ravi gave a terrible look at his statement. The night was taking over and the
forest was thick enough to have all possible terrors in it. It was insane to
have done something like jam there. But somehow our hearts had silently agreed
to what abhi said. We looked at our
watch and it was 6 30.We decided to jam for exactly 30 min….and the fun then
began….

Song of Hope

We came up with
some random chord patterns and leads…for around 10 mins.But no tune was
touching our heart. Then I gestured everyone to close their eyes for a while.
We closed our eyes surrendering ourselves to the divine sounds.

The forest was full of haunting sounds, yet there was that sweet sound
of the river flowing amidst rocks. The sky was almost dark, yet there was that
small torch that gave light. The scenic beauty which we had seen a while ago
was reminded.

After 5 minutes of
utter silence our guitarist played the first chord, and then the subsequent two
chords. The chords were exotic and the strumming pattern was alluring. Our
percussionist then followed on his djembe with a catchy pattern that acknowledged
the guitar riff. Then abhi came in with his acoustic base and embellished the arrangement.
It was time for melody now. The pattern kept on playing, and we together
figured out the melody.

The lyrics also
happened very quickly .The sweet sound of river, amidst the forest’s haunting sounds,
the torch light amidst darkness, the scenic beauty, the adventure everything
amalgamated and brought one theme to the surface and that’s “Hope”.The lyrics
came out as follows

I am music

Amidst austere Cacophony

I am torch

Amidst Scaring Darkness

I am your friend

When you have none

Remember me

And I shall be there

I am Called

Hope

We sang these lines with our heart.We were much more than elated .We were experiencing
something more than ecstacy.After having a wonderful adventure ,the song was
like an icing on the cake.

But soon we
realized that it was 7 15 p.m.And it was time to leave now.We continued our journey fighting leeches and
hunger.We finally reached castle rock at around 9 p.m.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

From Bollywood to Bhajans; Rock to Reggae; Jazz to Ghazhals; cut
across several languages this “musician” emanates only one vibe and that’s “awesomeness”.
If at times you have wallowed in waves of romance, or moved your body out of
madness in response to a particular song the likelihood of involvement of this
magical voice is very high. He is the “cherry” among the cream of “contemporary
singers “in India. He is none other than “Sonu Nigam”

He started as
a kid by singing “kya hua tera wada” on stage...and then onwards he has never
looked back. He caught everyone’s eye with “accha sila diya tune” and then went
on to deliver some of his early major hits like “Sandes ate hain” and “Yeh dil
deewana”. He was one of the foremost reformers in the renaissance of indipop
with some of the classic albums like “Deewana “,”Yaad “etc

The elegance in
technique and the hold on connecting to emotions were portrayed when he rendered
songs like “Fiza”,”Satarangi re” .His best
came out with songs like “Suraj hua madham”,”Saathiya” and he witnessed one of his pinnacle points when he rendered
“kal ho na ho” for which he received the “National Award”. Calling him a “voice of
love” won’t be an exaggeration when you listen to songs like “In lamho ke
daaman mein”, “Tumko Paaya hai ke “,”Piyu bole etc”. And with age his singing
is getting even better. His rendition of “Abhi mujhe mein kahi” is an
illustration to my statement.

He has sung huge number of songs in many
languages apart from “Hindi” .But Kannada has been the highest. Whenever he
sings numbers like “Mungaru male”,”Anisutide…”or “Ninindale” etc he
just makes sure people reciprocate the emotions of the song. He even did a
beautiful kannada album called “Neene bari Neene”.

Well I think Sonu
is just not a musician. He is a revolutionary musician. Experiments and a
carving for new stuff has been his “mantra” all along. He came up with album
called “classically mild” –which was like a revolution in presentation of
classical music to the mass. His album named “time travel” is a true
illustration to his “innovative approach”. He spearheaded the collaboration culture
in Indian music industry and as a result
delivered some of his best collaborative ventures of the likes of “this is it”(
a tribute to MJ)”, ”a collaboration with jay sean and the recent in EDM music “India
levels” (with Avicci).

He is one of the
finest stage performers too. Do attend one of his concerts and undoubtedly you
will be mesmerized with his stage presence. He is now venturing into the
composing sector and as expected he is doing a great job there too…..

Kudos Sonu Nigam.Keep
bringing more awesomeness in music. And as you always say

Friday, July 5, 2013

There is this beautiful island. It consists of a unique kind
of flower not available anywhere. It also has a bird which is quite a wonder in
its own ways. The bird and flowers have a unique bondage. Every time the bird
hops on to a flower -the flower blossoms ;emanates sweet fragrance. But as soon
as the bird flies off it withers. Also the bird keeps returning to the flower
at unexpected times…By the way